a charleston food blog

Archive for the ‘bbq’ Category

It’s strange how a restaurant’s space affects the diner. Fancy food seems to taste better in an elegant setting and likewise, rustic food is better enjoyed in a rustic space. This is why West Ashley’s new BBQ establishment Home Team is throwing me a little bit. In fact, I want to call this place an instant classic, but wait.

In the newly renovated Bunch’s Garage (next to Bait and Tackle), this new BBQ dig is the antithesis of all classic BBQ temples (Sweatman’s, Big T’s, Lexington BBQ…to name a few). Inside it’s so clean that it’s almost antiseptic and there is a wrap sandwich on the menu to boot (wraps are the worst food trend since sun dried tomatoes and asian-fusion and I hate them). Sounds like sacrelige to all purists, and this to me is where it gets tricky. I’m not sure if I’m just aggrandizing a good BBQ restaurant, but it seems like the pit master here is both tipping his hat to grand old tradition (BBQ is arguably our only native cuisine) with incredible, sublime BBQ while irreverently goofing off (and arguably showing off) in it’s face. Apart from the wrap, and another example of its irreverence for that matter, Home Team serves a mayonnaise based BBQ sauce that is remarkably good. Stripped to its bare bones, with all of the temporal elements of ambiance and feel aside, I think that Home Team has some of the best BBQ anywhere. Just without the classic BBQ shack feel.

The meat at Home Team is pit roasted with a dry rub and served with no sticky, tricky, or even worse, sticky-icky sauce. What results from the rub and slow cooking is truly sublime, with rich smoke and pork flavor, very subtle sweetness, and nothing overpowering. And it absolutely does not need sauce. To call it tender would be an understatement. It’s downright soft, so tender that it’s almost strange. The pulled pork, ribs, and even the chicken all taste the same both in flavor and texture; delicious. In fact, I’ve never had BBQ chicken that could compete with pork and this one certainly does. The sides are great as well; I like the collards, squash casserole, and creamed corn. But who cares about the sides, it’s all about the BBQ. Anyhow, enough fawning, time will tell where Home Team lands in the great BBQ realm of the Carolinas, though with lines already out the door, I am comfortable calling it an instant classic.

J.B.’s is the only all you can eat restaurant where they encourage you to keep eating. All of its buffet items are homemade style with a great variety of vegetables, pulled pork bbq and chicken, and of course banana pudding. For under $10, the buffet is a great deal for high quality bbq and delicious food.

BBQ can be a polarizing issue, especially if you are from North Carolina and think anything without vinegar isn’t barbeque. J.B’s is one of my favorite places for bbq in charleston and proves that we are not only about mustard here. J.B’s has a great country atmoshpere in an old house/restaurant space. You will undoubtedly stuff your face. Note that they keep strange hours; open weds-sunday only.

The brother of the notoriously racist Maurice Bessinger serves good quality food to people of all backgrounds. The barbecue is really just average but the burgers and sandwiches are consistently good and use fresh ingredients. A good regular lunch spot but not the mecca of barbeque.